And in that case the anointing of Solomon decided the difference Buxtorf Lexic Rabbin in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the Priest that succeeded his Father was always anointed The high-Priesthood being not successive as the Kingdom of David was Rabboth fol. 176. The Kings of Israel were not anointed with the holy Oil. Jehu indeed was anointed but not with the holy Oil of Moses but with a certain Balsam Pesikta fol. 10. c. 1. Maimon H. Kele Hammikdash c. 1. Siphra fol. 17. c. 3. That during the second Temple the High Priests were not anointed the holy Oil having been hid and lost and that the sacerdotal garments served instead thereof That the Kings of the house of David were to be anointed by a fountain of water for which they ground themselves upon 1 King 1.38 and in the day time Lev. 6.20 Thus had the Jews under the law of Moses the shadow of good things to come but these excellent things which they had in type we have in substance The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ Joh. 1.17 Our blessed Saviour is both Prophet Priest and King He is the great Prophet who hath taught us the will of God Our great High Priest who made attonement for us and is entered into the Holy of Holies He is our King to rule and govern us and from him we expect the great and unspeakable blessing of eternal life And as the Priests and Kings of old were set apart to their offices and dignities by a certain Oil prescribed in the Law of Moses so was our Blessed Saviour by a better anointing of which that Oil was but a shadow namely by the Holy Ghost which did not onely design him and set him apart to these great and important offices but also enable him for the performance of them Thus the Apostle tells us that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power Act. 10.38 Now our Saviour was anointed with the Holy Ghost First at his Conception Thus the Angel tells the blessed Virgin The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Luk. 1.35 Secondly at his Baptism at the river Jordan Matt. 3.13 Mark 1.9 Now when all the people were baptized it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying the heaven was opened And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven which said Thou art my beloved Son in thee I am well pleased Luk. 3.21 22. Then did the Holy Ghost descend visibly upon Jesus and as of old as I said before anointing was used among the Jews as a sign of God's election and choice of the person anointed so was it now And for the greater assurance of it a voice came from Heaven saying Thou art my beloved Son c. Thus was Jesus declared to be chosen of God by the descent of the Holy Ghost And to this I may add the words of the Prophet to the same purpose Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him c. Isa 42.1 And St. Luke tells presently upon the Baptism of Jesus that he being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness Luk. 4.1 And after he was tempted in the Wilderness he tells us that Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee ver 14. And when he was in the Synagogue at Nazareth he opened the book which was delivered him and found that place where 't was written The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor c. And said unto them This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears v. 21. Our blessed Saviour though he were sanctified from the Womb and was anointed by the Holy Ghost yet when he was baptized in Jordan and about thirty years of age he was again anointed by the same divine spirit more publickly and openly than before He was now entring on his great ministry and about to be tempted by the Devil and is now filled by the Holy Ghost and thereby enabled and prepared for that work which he was going about In a word he who was at his Conception anointed with the Holy Ghost was also at his Baptism Matt. 3.16 17. when he was entring upon his ministry not onely by a voice from heaven proclaimed the beloved Son of God but declared to be so by the descending of the spirit of God like a Dove Vid. Exod. 28.41 29.21 Lev. 8.12 with v. 30. See also Abravenel on Exod. 29.21 and lighting upon him It is observed of Aaron the first High Priest and type of the Messias that he was also twice anointed with the holy Oil. And for David who was a most eminent type of the Messias He is said to be twice anointed also Once at Bethlehem during the life of Saul by the hands of Samuel upon which it is said And the spirit of the Lord came upon 1 Sam. 16.13 David from that day forward After this he is said to have been anointed at Hebron by the men of Judah 2 Sam. 2.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodorer in 2 Reg. Quaest 8. I do grant and it cannot be denied that David was but once anointed with the holy Oil and that where it is said afterward that the men of Judah anointed him the meaning is onely this that they chose him and openly owned and acknowledged him for their King as appears by comparing 2 Sam. 2.4 with chap. 4.3 17. It is enough to my present purpose that David who was more privately anointed at Bethlehem was afterward so publickly owned and acknowledged to be the King that he is said again to have been anointed For in this he was eminently a type of our Lord Christ who was from his Conception anointed with the Holy Ghost and when he was upon his Baptism entring upon his administration was publickly declared to be the Son of God by a voice from heaven and by the descent of the Holy Ghost Among the Jewish Constitutions this was one That the Kings of the house of David were to be anointed by a fountain of water This was a tradition from their Elders grounded upon what we read of Solomon that when he was to be anointed King Zadok and Nathan and the rest that attended upon him brought him unto Gihon 1 King 1.38 This Gihon was a place of waters as appears 2 Chron. 32.30 Let this tradition be as old as you will suppose it came from Moses and was delivered from Mount Sinai as the Jews say their Oral law was so it came to pass that our Jesus the great King of the house of David was anointed by the waters
of Jordan when the Holy Ghost at his Baptism descended upon him 'T will be easie now to understand what Christ imports For that word denotes the offices of our blessed Saviour to which he was appointed by God and enabled to discharge by the Holy Ghost which was plentifully poured out upon him And as of old publick persons were set apart to their respective offices and dignities by being first anointed with a certain Oil prescribed for that purpose so was our Lord sanctified and fitted to teach and govern the Church of God to be the great mediatour between God and man and the redeemer of mankind by the Holy Ghost which he plentifully received Joh. 3.34 And he that confesses that Jesus is the Christ does thereby acknowledge him to be his Prophet Priest and King and is consequently obliged by virtue of that profession to obey his laws and give himself up to his government as well as to hope for pardon from his bloud God hath made it very plain that our Jesus is the Messias that was promised Who is a Liar says St. John but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ 1 Joh. 2.22 This was that great truth that the Jews opposed vehemently They agreed that if any man confessed him to be Christ he should be put out of the Synagogue What hath been said will be of use to the better understanding the words of St. John Ye have an unction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 Joh. 2.20 He puts Christians in mind of that affusion of the Holy Ghost which he calls the Vnction from the holy one which God hath bestowed on them according to Christ's promise This Holy Ghost did lead them into all truth and the plentiful effusion of this Spirit did bear a clear testimony that Jesus was the true Messias and that the doctrine which he taught came from God This Holy Spirit was the defence which those Christians had against being seduced As it follows These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him 1 Joh. 2.26 27. I shall onely add that from Christ we are all called Christians and that blessed name ought to influence our practice 'T is a great thing to be a Christian 'T is a dignity and honour to the greatest among us and the best of all our titles We may well glory in this blessed name and value it above all our other titles and properties But then we must remember what this name requires at our hands When we name the name of Christ we are obliged to depart from all iniquity Let us consider how well this name becomes us Are we like our blessed Saviour have we that unction from the holy one Does the spirit of Jesus dwell in us If that Holy Spirit be not in us ' we have a name to live and are dead we may fondly conceit what we please of our selves but if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 CHAP. II. The CONTENTS It is agreed between Jews and Christians I. That there was a Messias promised and II. That there was such a person as our Jesus and III. That there was at that time when Jesus lived a general expectation of the Messias That hence it was that there appeared so many Impostours about that time An account of some of them from Josephus Of the promises of the Messias and the gradual revealing of them A Passage in Maimon concerning the Afternoon-Prayer misrepresented by a late learned writer Several particulars relating to the Messias predicted THus having shewed what is meant by Jesus and what by Christ I come next to shew you that our Jesus whom the Jews crucified is the Christ or Messias And before I proceed to consider the several arguments that do confirm this truth I shall premise the following particulars First that there was a Messias promised in the old Testament is not onely affirmed by the Christians but granted by the Jews There is no dispute about this matter Secondly that there was such a person as Jesus that he lived at such a time as we say he did and died as the Gospels report is not denied by the Jews They often mention him in their writings though with scorn and disdain they speak of the time and manner of his death and the names of his Disciples and they are far from denying the matter of fact Thirdly that when Jesus did appear in the world there was a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews Thus we read of Simeon's waiting for the consolation of Israel Luk. 2.25 And that Simeon was no mean person he was the Son of Hillel the great and a man of great place among the Jews Again one Anna a Prophetess a devout and aged Widow who served God with fastings and prayers night and day spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem v. 38. The Woman of Samaria had heard of this fame and general expectation of the Messias among the Jews at that time and that he should be a great Prophet I know says she that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4. 25. Hence the Jews at that time being under a general expectation of the Messias were very prone to take others for him that did then appear And because John Baptist was a man of great vertue and fame and that was greatly followed by the people and that in the very time when the Messias was expected Casaubon Exercit. ad Apparat Baronii Annal. n. 5. they sent Priests and Levites to know who he was Joh. 1.19 That is to know whether or no he were the Messias as appears from what follows And he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ v. 20. And there have been those that have thought that Herod was by some taken for the Messias also by them who upon that score are called the Herodians in the Gospel I shall not need to dispute that so much is certain that the Jews did expect the Messias at that time And I shall afterwards shew what ground they had so to doe It shall be enough at present to add that as there was a general expectation of the Messias about that time so there were a great number of Impostours that took that occasion to delude the people and draw followers after them Gamaliel names two Theudas and Judas of Galilee Act. 5.36 37. Josephus gives us a farther account of these men He tells us that under the government of Fadus Antiqu. l. 20. c. 2. a certain Magician called Theudas perswaded a great number to follow him to the river Jordan pretending himself
quaked greatly These things were very terrible and so were other works which we read of afterward which spoke indeed the presence and power of God but then they spoke his anger too The Sons of Aaron were destroyed by fire Miriam is struck with leprousie the earth swallows up Korah and his company and the fiery serpents plague the people On the other hand our Lord saves but does not destroy Instead of killing or inflicting plagues and diseases upon men he feeds the hungry cures the sick cleanseth the Lepers restores the blind and lame dispossesseth the Demoniacks and raises the dead 4. Our Saviour confirmed his doctrine by raising himself from the dead Moses dyed as well as the other Prophets And though the Jews tell us upon a trifling ground that he did die by the kiss of God's mouth and not after the ordinary manner of men yet they cannot deny that he dyed and 't is not affirmed by any that he rose from the dead He dyed on this side the Land of Promise and was buried over against Beth Peor Deut. 34.8 but the Jews are so far from affirming that he rose again that they knew not where his Sepulchre or place of burial was So that there was no room left for their fraud None could take away his Body and pretend he was risen from the dead Our blessed Saviour did rise from the dead notwithstanding all the art used to prevent it aswell as the spreading of it He had many witnesses of his Resurrection some whereof sealed the truth with their Bloud I shall now consider the pretended miracles of the Church of Rome not that I think them worthy to be compared with those of our blessed Saviour But that Church hath boasted of Miracles and we have large accounts of the wonders which have been wrought within the verge of her own Communion And not to inlarge too far I shall confine my self to those three marks or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which a learned Writer discoursing of this argument hath pitched upon 1. Whereas the miracles which Jesus wrought were grave and serious works substantial and such as proclamed the power and goodness and the wisedom of the Authour of them there is nothing more ridiculous and trifling than many of those which are reported to be done in the Church of Rome Such are the many stories which are told of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary They tell us that she frequently comes from Heaven offers her self in Marriage and brings knacks along with her and bestows them upon her friends and familiars They tell us also of our Saviour that he appears in his Mother's armes as a little Child that sometimes he goes from her and that he was once almost lost in the Snow They tell that the Virgin Mary's house in Nazareth upon discontent removed from thence and travail'd from place to place for the space of about two thousand miles Durand Rational Divin Offic. till it sate down at Loretto They tell that when one of their Preachers who was blind preached though there were no auditours to do it yet the stones that were about him cryed out Amen at his concluding I am ashamed to report the ridiculous stories which they tell of men who carried their heads in their hands after they had been Beheaded for several miles together of others who spake after they were dead of Sheep and Asses running to hear St. Francis preach and of Swine falling dead under his curse Of St. Dominick who hung in the air like a bird and at his Devotions forcing the Devil to hold a light and burn his fingers at that service of Christina who contracted her self at prayer into a round form like that of an Hedgehog and who could climb the highest trees like a Squirrel and swim in rivers like a Fish Of Catharine of Sienna who desired a new heart and thereupon Christ came to her opened her Breast took out her heart goes away with it and brings another and tells her that was his own I will not entertain you with the Stories of the sweating and speaking and motion of their Images of the great feats which have been done by the relicks of Saints and holy water and such like things Such Pranks as these are reported which look more like the feats of Demons of Hob-goblins and Fairies than the finger of God The works of Jesus spake the great wisedom power and goodness of God they were works of great mercy and relief But these stories are Romances and false representations or which is worse they look like the works of an evil Spirit who is abroad ready to deceive them who obey not the truth These things can serve no good and wise purpose and that is not all for they serve a very evil one These false stories are a temtation to men to question the true Men will be too ready to suspect the miracles of Christ when they find themselves imposed upon by those who profess themselves his followers 2. The miracles which Christ did were to confirm the truth of the Christian doctrine But these pretended miracles are brought to confirm a doctrine which Christ and his Apostles never taught Christ and his Apostles taught all Christian doctrine and all the necessary matters of faith And now though an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel we ought not to receive him Gal. 1.8 9. Were the works of the Church of Rome like our Saviour's works and their doctrine the same with his these works would be of great use to convince unbelievers but not at all requisite where the doctrine was believed before For the doctrine of the Church of Rome it is the same with that of the holy Scriptures or it is not If it be the same there is no need of miracles especially among them who believe the holy Scriptures to confirm that which hath been sufficiently confirmed already But if it be not the same we are not to regard miracles in that Case Nay if an Apostle or Angel from Heaven should Preach another Gospel let him be accursed We shall find that the pretended miracles in the Church of Rome are alledged for the confirmation of the Novel doctrines of that Church not of the Christian doctrine taught by Christ and his Apostles We are told that Christ spake intelligibly several times out of the Wafer to a Spanish Franciscan Again that upon the Altar he turned himself from the form of a Consecrated Wafer into that of a little Child and then from that of a Child to that of a Wafer Again that a Woman's Bees not thriving she stole a Consecrated Wafer and put it into one of her Hives The devout Bees in honour to that fall to work and with their honey-combs make a little Church with windows with roof and door with belfry and Altar upon which they laid the Host and did fly about it continually praising the Lord All this is for the confirmation of the doctrine of Transubstantiation
Again if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Again he appears in the presence of God for us Heb. 7.25 Rom. 8.35 1 Joh. 2. 1. Heb. 9.24 After this manner is that care and concern expressed which Jesus hath for his followers Shall he after all this be called a Metaphorical Priest onely Heb. 8.2 Shall he that is the Minister of the true Tabernacle be himself but improperly a Priest shall Aaron the type be truly a Priest and shall the Anti-type be one improperly so called Can any thing be said by the followers of Socinus upon weaker grounds than this There need to have been no change of the Law if the change of the Priesthood had onely been into that which is figurative Heb. 7.11 12.8.4.8.3 Christ might have been a Metaphorical Priest upon earth and very consistently with the order of Aaron What need had this High Priest as well as those of the order of Aaron to have something to offer if he had been onely Tanquam Pontifex Crellii Paraphras in Heb. 9.14 as it were an high Priest for such an one never can want an offering Spiritual Sacrifices are always at hand to every good man Shall the High Priest of this order of Melchisedeck not deserve this name which was justly due to the Sons of Aaron And the Anti-type be less real than the Type is It is evident that Jesus is a Priest of the highest order and nothing is wanting to speak him so in the most perfect sense For he wants not power with God nor compassion for his people and then he ever lives and is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck And the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on the day of expiation was but a Type of our high Priest and his concern in Heaven for us And this leads me in the next place To shew that the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews does chap. 9.24 and elsewhere infer this truth from the avowed principles of the Jâ—wish writers For we find he spends much time in discoursing of the Priesthood of Christ and of his concern for his people now he is in Heaven and infers this from what the High Priest among the Jews did in the Holy of Holies and it will appear that this discourse of his is so far from being inconsequent and impertinent that it is founded upon principles allowed by those Jews to whom he directs that Epistle and especially upon these two First that the High Priest under the law of Moses was a type of the Messias Secondly That the Holy of Holies was a type of the highest Heavens into which Christ entered he being said to have entred into that within the veil Heb. 6.19 First that the High Priest under the law of Moses was a type of the Messias And that he was so and a most eminent one no Christian can deny and it would be no hard task to prove it at large and shew a great many correspondences between the type and the anti-type But to doe that is no part of my present business All that I am to doe at present is to shew that the Jews have no reason to quarrel with the way of arguing which the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes use of because the high Priest was among them esteemed a type of the Messias To this purpose I shall not trouble my self in searching after the opinions of the latter Jews touching this matter I shall content my self with the Testimony of one of their ancient writers who for his antiquity for his singular wit and learning for his being unsuspected of any bad design and interest in the question we are now speaking of is more valuable than some scores of their later Authours and that is Philo the Jew And I find in that Authour three considerable Testimonies to my present purpose Phil. Jud. de Profugis This Authour discoursing of the Cities of refuge under the law of Moses inquires the reason why the man-slayer was not to be released till the death of the High Priest and thereupon he does expresly affirm That the High Priest was not a man but the divine word free from all sin both voluntary and involuntary The meaning of which can be no more nor less than this that he was in this the type of the divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ph. Jud. de Victimis by whom alone we obtain our redemption which he hath wrought for us by his death The same Authour elsewhere speaking of those words Lev. 4.3 if the Priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people tells us that the latter part of those words do insinuate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. That he who is truly the High Priest and not falsely so called is free from sins And he adds that if he do chance to slip that it happens to him upon the peoples account and not upon his own And in another place speaking of the vestments of the High Priest he adds That it was necessary that he who was a Priest to the Father of the World and bore the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on his breast Ph. Jud. de Vita Mosis l. 3. of which he speaks just before should make use of his most perfect Son as an advocate to procure pardon of sins and a plentifull supply of good things Secondly that the Holy of Holies was a type of the highest Heavens into which Christ entred he being said to have entred into that within the veil I shall consider what the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews says of this matter and afterwards shew how agreeably he discourses of it to the Hebrews and their sense of this matter Christ is not entred saith he into the holy places made with hands Heb. 9.24 which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us By the holy places made with hands rendred by the Vulgar in that place Manufacta Sancta is meant the Holy of Holies or the Holiest of all as it is v. 3. And if we compare v. 8. and v. 12. with what we read Levit. 16.2 16 20. We shall find the Holy of Holies is sometimes expressed by one word viz. the Holy or Holies which we render here by the holy places and might perhaps as well have been rendred by holies onely This holy place is said to be made with hands and indeed the whole Sanctuary was made by the hands of men and the name of the workmen are upon record and it is called by Philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ph. Jud. de Vita Mosis l. 3. the Sanctuary made with hands And is by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews called a worldly Sanctuary Heb. 9.2 ch 8.2 and that in respect to the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man These holy places
I shall mention two which were great proofs of our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven and of his power there and his being concerned on the behalf of his Church The first is the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost Act. 2. Our Saviour had promised to his sorrowfull Disciples a Comforter who should abide with them for ever This he did before his death and the better to support them under the sorrow which his death would occasion Joh. 14.16 18. ch 15. v. 26. and ch 16. v. 7. He repeated this promise after his Resurrection Luk. 24.49 And before his Ascension he commands them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me Act. 1.4 This promise he made good Act. 2. To the great amazement of the multitude which from several nations were come together to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost The Holy Ghost which was then miraculously bestowed upon the Disciples of Jesus was his Advocate and pleaded his cause Our Saviour had foretold that he would bear witness of him And this the Holy Ghost did Joh. 15.26 1. As he testified that Jesus was a true Prophet when he promised this heavenly gift to his disciples and did thereby bear Testimony to his veracity and make it appear that he was not an impostor or cheat They were now convinced abundantly that Jesus had made his word good Joh. 16.7 10. And now there was no suspicion left of his being a false Prophet or deceiver 2. Of the power and autority which Jesus had He told his followers that all power was given him in Heaven and Earth Mat. 28.18 This he told them after his Resurrection and a little before his Ascension into Heaven He gave at the day of Pentecost an undeniable proof of it Jesus had said before his death to the elders and chief Priests and Scribes that asked him if he were the Christ Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God Luk. 22.69 The meaning of which words is plainly this that they should be convinced e'er long of his great power which he had in Heaven upon his exaltation to that place and at the day of Pentecost he gave a great demonstration of this power of his And St. Peter does conclude from it that he is the Christ This Jesus saith he hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear And presently afterward he concludes as he very justly might do Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have Crucified both Lord and Christ Act. 2. v. 32 33 36. Secondly another great effect following the exaltation of Jesus was the success of his Religion in the world which was a farther argument of the power of Jesus in Heaven and of his being concerned for his Church and an evident proof that this Jesus is the Christ But for the better speaking to this I shall shew First that according to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias Secondly that these prophecies have been in great measure fulfilled in our Jesus whose Religion did greatly spread over the world Thirdly that this success of the Religion of Jesus is an unexceptionable proof that Jesus is the Christ According to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias and consequently that the partition-wall between the Jew and Gentile should be thrown down Thus in those words of Jacob which the ancient Jews understand of the Messias it is said that unto him shall the gathering of the people be Gen. 49.10 That is the nations or Gentiles should obey and serve him No less is promised than this I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for a possession Ps 2.8 The Prophet Isaiah foretells also that it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all nations shall flow unto it Isa 2.2 And again In that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people To it shall the Gentiles seek Isa 11.10 And again the same Prophet tells us The Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet chuse Israel and set them in their own land And the strangers shall be joined with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob Isa 14.1 And farther we read It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation unto the end of the earth c. 49.6 To which we may add Isa 54. as also what he tells us afterwards The Gentiles shall come to thy light and King 's to the brightness of thy rising The abundance of the Sea shall be converted to thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee c. 60.3 5. We shall hear what the Prophet Hosea also tells us I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people thou art my people Hos 2.23 No less perhaps is meant than this in that vision of Zechary where Jerusalem is not permitted to come under a measuring line and that because she should be inhabited as Towns without walls for the multitude of men and Cattel therein Zech. 2.4 However sure I am that the same Prophet speaks plainly in these words Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord c. 8.22 And as plainly still afterwards in these words Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having Salvation lowly and riding upon an Asse and upon a colt the foal of an Asse And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and the battel bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen And his Dominion shall be from Sea even to Sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth c. 9. v. 4 10. To which I shall add the words of the Prophet Malachy From the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Mal. 1.11 By which we may see that the Gentiles according to these prophecies were to submit to
killeth you will think that he doeth God service Joh. 16.2 Here is little encouragement then for the world to receive the Gospel which is like to bring them into to such hazards and dangers We have a Proverb among us that men will not make any haste to that market where they are like to meet with nothing but blows A man would easily believe men would not be very forward to relinquish their prosperous Religion and entertain an afflicted and a persecuted Gospel to leave the gainfull worship of the great Diana and to embrace a profession that is every where spoken against to forsake the image that fell down from Jupiter and to worship Jesus that was hanged on a Cross A man might one would think assoon perswade an army to leave their direct and smoother way to their enemies and to march through dangerous woods and precipices quick-sands and lakes Or as soon obtain of a great Tyrant that he should destroy himself as to perswade the unbelieving world to venture all their pleasures wealth and honours aye and their bloud too in the profession of that Gospel that did not so much as promise them any recompence in the same kind Yet we know this was done the Religion of Jesus was gladly embraced upon these terms The rich were willing to become poor to part with their possessions here for the hopes of a future glory the honourable were glad to be laid low and stript of all their properties for the sake of Jesus Banishment or chains prisons or death are very welcome for the Gospel's sake No Wheels or Racks no Rods or Axes no bolts or chains hunger or thirst fire or sword shall be able to make them offer to an Idol or deny their Lord. Nay they were so resolute that they wearied their persecutors by their patience and constancy they could not find out torments exquisite and great enough for them They were not daunted at the cruelties of Nero or Domitian or any of the following Roman Emperours Nor were they onely the great preachers of the Gospel that were thus resolute and hardy but also the Laity aye Women and Children those of the weaker sex and more tender years Nor was the Religion impaired or weakned by these heavy burthens but it grows and prospers greatly This bloud of Martyrs proves a fruitfull seed and very strangely fructifies and brings forth Children unto God Even so much did it prosper that though it had been persecuted under Nero and Domitian yet in the days of Trajan those very early days of the Gospel the Christians were so numerous that Pliny one of his Governours over a certain province of his was forced to send to Trajan to know what he should do with them Plin. Epist l. 10. Ep. 97. and that propter periâ—litantium numerum because of the multitude of those that were in danger And he adds Multi enim omnis aetatis omnis ordinis utriusque sexus etiam vocantur in periculum vocabuntur That is There were great numbers of them of every age and many of all ranks and qualities aye and of both sexes also that durst profess themselves Christians So strangely did the Gospel thrive notwithstanding the cruelties that were inflicted upon the Professors of it And we are also told that afterwards in the days of Dioclesian when in the space of thirty days no less than seventeen thousand Christians were slain besides those that were condemned to Metalls and Quarries that yet then under that most cruel persecution the Christians rather increased than diminished Now this would never have been had not Jesus been the Christ and had not God who had promised him the Heathen for an inheritance by his overruling hand maugre all oppositions that were made brought it to pass But from the Doctrine it self let us proceed now 3. To the manner of it's spreading and propagation and we shall find that also very unlikely to have prevailed had it not been from God and had not Jesus been the Christ Nay do I say unlikely I may truly say it had been utterly impossible it should have got that ground it did had it not been from God and had not that God who made the world given it his Blessing Let us then well weigh these following severals 1. That the Gospel was not propagated in the world by humane Eloquence or excellence of Speech The first Preachers of it were men of great plainness and simplicity bred up not in the Schools of the Learned not in wisedom of the world not in any of the famous Accademies or under the teachings of the wise Philosophers but they were illiterate Galileans they were men of mean trades and occupations men that had not been used to speak in Senates and audiences of Princes men not used to defend causes not brought up in the cunning of Advocates and Proctors and mercenary pleaders Such men might have been thought to have done much by the strength of their parts and the quickness of their wit and might have been judged sufficient to have made a weak cause defensible They had none of the advantages of dignified persons which might commend them to Princes and great States so that they being poor and obscure their wisedom was like to be the less regarded it being a most certain truth that the poor man's wisedom is despised Upon these disadvantages did the first Preachers of the Gospel set forth into a cunning and wicked and potent world Indeed it is true St. Paul was a man of Learning bred up at the feet of Gamaliel and so doubtless well versed in the learning of the Jews and very fit to deal with them But then he was made the Doctour of the Gentiles And we hear what he tells his Corinthians I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified And my Speech and my Preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisedom 1 Cor. 2.2 4. He was a man much hated by the Jews and like to doe no great matters among the Romans one would think whose Prisoner he was when he came to Rome He was a man indeed of learning but of no authority a man of understanding but yet of mean presence and contemptible speech 2 Cor. 10.5.10 So that the progress of the Gospel may not be ascribed to any great eloquence or Rhetorick any skill or artifice of men but onely to the power of God 1 Cor. 2.5 For by the foolishness of Preaching God taught the world wisedom by weak things he overturned the strong and by things which are not he overcame things that are He that did destroy the walls of Jericho at the noise of a shout and overcome the Canaanites by the hands of a Woman and discomfited the Midianites great Army with Trumpets and the breaking of Pitchers and killed the great Goliah with a Stripling and his sling it was he and he alone that enabled the first Preachers of the Gospel and gave that success to very